SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) and the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre at
the University of Copenhagen, Denmark partner to explore the
relationship between the evolutionary history of select mental and
neurological disorders and infectious pathogens. One of the first
projects of its kind worldwide, the endeavor aims to acquire new
knowledge in terms of the medical and biological understanding of
special factors underlying the development of human neuropsychiatric
diseases through the ages. Ultimately, the project may provide a new
approach to the development of medicines and other therapeutic
treatments for mental and neurological conditions.

Where do brain disorders come from? In an effort to shed light on the
role of microbes in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric illnesses, such
as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia, Professor Eske Willerslev and
his team will build one of the largest genomic datasets of its kind, by
complete DNA mapping of thousands of ancient Eurasian human remains. The
data will be obtained from bones and teeth, the oldest remains dating
back 10,000 years.

The international, multi-disciplinary team of scientists, which includes
specialists in ancient genomics, neuro-genetics, population genetics,
archaeology, linguistics, and experts in brain health, among others,
will focus on creating two unique subsets of genomic data. The first
panel is a 5,000 ancient human genomes panel. The second panel will
consist of ancient pathogen DNA that is associated with human diseases.
Both panels, which will be made publicly available, will together
advance our understanding of the evolution of disease variance and its
interaction with the human genome and pathogen pressure. The project
will generate and analyze one of the largest sets of ancient human and
pathogen genome panels ever created.

“Over the past 10,000 years, mankind has experienced some of the
greatest lifestyle changes in the history of our species,” said
Professor Willerslev, Lundbeck Foundation Professor at the University of
Copenhagen and Prince Philip Professor at the University of Cambridge.
“Our diet changed as we developed from hunter-gatherers into farmers,
our settlement patterns changed, and there have been changes in pressure
of infection from the pathogenic micro-organisms to which we were
exposed due to altered living conditions. We also know that chronic
viral, bacterial and fungal infections might be causative factors in
neuropsychiatric diseases, so there is every reason to believe that the
analyses of DNA from this period will show significant trends, giving us
the ability to create new, publicly available reference sets, to enhance
both the scientific and healthcare communities’ understanding of disease
evolution.”

In order to decode the genetic origins and evolution of human diseases,
Professor Willerslev and his team will utilize Illumina’s most powerful
sequencer, the NovaSeq™6000 System, which was designed to open new
horizons for larger, more robust experiments, providing the throughput
to properly power large-cohort studies. Projects of this scale benefit
from speed, throughput and data quality, and as such this project will
leverage the S4 flow cell to sequence up to 20 billion ancient DNA
fragments every two days.

“The NovaSeq 6000 was the obvious choice for this project with its
unrivaled data quality and high-throughput capabilities,” remarks
Professor Willerslev. “While we conceived this project to explore the
evolutionary origins of genetic disorders years ago, it was simply
impossible to realize before Illumina’s NovaSeq System came on the
market. We are delighted that Lundbeck Foundation had the foresight to
see the importance of our project and that Illumina’s technology will
make the research possible.”

“Illumina is thrilled to be working with Professor Willerslev and his
team on this extraordinary project,” said Paula Dowdy, Senior Vice
President and General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa at
Illumina. “It will be extremely valuable, if by going back 10,000 years,
we can acquire new information about when, and under which environmental
conditions, a brain disorder may have been introduced into human DNA.
This project has the potential to influence future product developments
in genetics and precision medicine by providing invaluable insights to
those affected by mental health issues.”

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome.
Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA
sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the
research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for
applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health,
agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com and
follow @illumina.

About the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre

The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre for Brain, Disease &
Evolution is a world-class Centre of excellence for ancient DNA research
in humans, pathogens and environmental DNA. The GeoGenetics Centre was
founded in 2009 as a Danish National Research Foundation Centre of
excellence, and now continues with generous funding from Lundbeck
Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the
Wellcome Trust. The GeoGenetics Centre is cross-disciplinary, hosting
scientists from a broad array of disciplines and from around the world.
Located at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, we explore human
migration, disease evolution, adaptations to lifestyle changes and
language development in our efforts to understand who we are, where we
came from and where we are headed. Our goals are to increase our mutual
appreciation for what it means to be human as well as to decrease
suffering through understanding disease etiologies and respecting our
diversity.

Forward-Looking Statement

This release contains projections, information about our financial
outlook, total addressable market, and other forward-looking statements
that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements
are based on our expectations as of the date of this release and may
differ materially from actual future events or results. Among the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in any forward-looking statements are (i) our ability to
further develop and commercialize our instruments and consumables and to
deploy new products, including diagnostic assays, services and
applications, and expand the markets for our technology platforms; (ii)
our ability to manufacture robust instrumentation, consumables,
including diagnostic assays; (iii) our ability to successfully identify
and integrate acquired technologies, products or businesses; (iv) the
future conduct and growth of the business and the markets in which we
operate; (v) challenges inherent in developing, manufacturing, and
launching new products and services or integrating acquired products and
technology into our portfolio; (vi) our ability to obtain necessary
regulatory approvals to close the transaction described or to market and
sell diagnostic or therapeutic products and (vii) the application of
generally accepted accounting principles, which are highly complex and
involve many subjective assumptions, estimates, and judgments, together
with other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our most recent filings on Forms 10-K and
10-Q, or in information disclosed in public conference calls, the date
and time of which are released beforehand. We undertake no obligation,
and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements, to review
or confirm analysts’ expectations, or to provide interim reports or
updates on the progress of the current quarter.